The Structure of Informal Credit Market in Pakistan

Heterogeneity of practices and complexity of operations obtained in the informal credit system defy efforts to encapsulate and comprehend its functioning. Conventional reductionism identifying moneylender as the typical informal lender in fact scratches the tip of the iceberg. Credit transactions in the informal market arc enmeshed with the web of business matrix in wholesale and retail trade of the country. In the chronological order informal credit system being rooted. in history and culture pre-existed the modern banking system-the so-called formal sector. Variety of agents having different titles such as arhis, input dealers, commission agents, landlord and moneylenders are some of the major operator in the field of informal credit.